Page 10 of Close Quarters

Before long, Katie zoned into her work, pushing all other thoughts from her mind as she walked and watched the monitor. She wanted to do the children buried here justice; they deserved her full attention. After two hours of walking, the image she’d been dreading to see appeared on the screen.

“Jace.” She stopped and glanced over at the deputy, pointing at the monitor.

His mouth flattened and turned down as he took in the small skeleton on the screen. “Dammit.” He lifted his radio and called for Seb and the two doctors to make their way to them.

Katie pushed a flag into the ground next to the radar and studied the surrounding area. Several spots of new growth caught her attention. She headed for the closest one.

“Katie?”

She pointed at the area sprouting several small saplings. “See the new growth?”

He nodded, looking around, noticing what they hadn’t before. “There’s more than one spot.”

“Yep.” She maneuvered the machine into the saplings and another body appeared on her screen. She sighed and looked at Jace. “Pull the K-9 from its current location. I think we found the burial ground.”

Expression grim, Jace nodded and lifted his radio again.

Gravel crunched beneath Alex’s boots as he walked toward the forensics van. He was dead on his feet. And starving. The bagged lunches they brought were a long time ago.

He walked up to the driver’s door, reaching for the handle, but paused at the sight of Katie sitting behind the wheel. With a frown, he rapped his knuckles on the window. It rolled down, and she gave him a sweet smile.

“Yes?”

“We talked about this on the way here. Get out so I can drive.”

She looked at him over the top of her glasses. “Step out of your comfort zone, Alex. Get in.”

“Katie…”

She grinned and rolled the window up.

Alex growled and whirled away, walking around the front of the van to get in the passenger seat. He slammed the door shut, scowling.

“Oh, cheer up,” she said, cranking the engine. “You can take a nap on the way back.”

“I don’t want to nap. I want to drive.” He fastened his seatbelt and tried to settle into the seat.

“Are you going to be this grouchy the whole way home?”

He shrugged. “I hope you’re ready for a side-seat driver.”

She arched a brow at him. “You’re seriously going to comment on my driving the entire way? We both know how well I take directions.”

He flashed a smile. “Then let me drive.”

“Nice try,” she said with a laugh. Shifting into gear, she headed down the drive behind Seb’s vehicle.

Alex gripped the center armrest with one hand, his knuckles going white. Maybe he should just close his eyes like she suggested. He tipped his head back against the headrest and did just that. The van bumped over a dip in the drive.

Nope, that was worse. His eyes snapped open, and he sat up.

“Sorry,” Katie muttered. “This driveway isn’t in the best condition.”

“Hadn’t noticed,” he said through gritted teeth.

She glanced at him, then sighed. “Fine.” She pulled to a stop.

“What?”

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